


Promise You'll Stay

by whenshewrites



Series: A Collection of One-Shots and Tumblr Prompts [41]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awesome Sheriff Stilinski, But he comes back, Derek Hale Leaves Beacon Hills, Derek Hale Loves Stiles Stilinski, Hurt Stiles Stilinski, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, One Shot, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pre-Slash, Protective Derek Hale, Sheriff Stilinski & Stiles Stilinski Feels, Stiles Stilinski Loves Derek Hale, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25216735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whenshewrites/pseuds/whenshewrites
Summary: “Don’t... go, Derek,” Stiles said softly. If Derek hadn’t had enhanced hearing, he might not have even heard it. “Please don’t leave me again.”Derek already knew he couldn't.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: A Collection of One-Shots and Tumblr Prompts [41]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956889
Comments: 24
Kudos: 420





	Promise You'll Stay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ForeverTheMomFriend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForeverTheMomFriend/gifts).



When Derek arrived at the hospital, he should have expected the sight that awaited him.

He stood in the doorway of the hospital room for a long moment and tried to find his voice. But he wasn’t the one with the words right now. Leaning over the bed a few feet away, the Sheriff was murmuring something soft; things Derek could probably catch if he wanted to, but he didn’t try.

Stiles was asleep in the hospital bed in front of the man. But the Sheriff kept talking anyway, voice slightly strangled. 

Instead of listening to his words, Derek listened to Stiles’s calm heartbeats and tried to strangle the terror coiling in his chest. It didn’t do much good, though. Slowly, he stepped forward.

“Sheriff.”

The man startled and spun around. But the moment he saw Derek, his face tightened and he turned back away again, taking his son’s hand once more. Derek’s stomach twisted even further.

Slowly, he moved forward to stand next to the Sheriff’s side.

“Sir, I—”

“You don’t need to say anything, Hale.”

Derek closed his mouth and looked quietly at the boy. There were tubes attached to Stiles’s arms, one going up his nose, and his face was pale. But Derek knew he would be alright. The claws of the wendigo hadn’t met anything vital and Scott’s pack had managed to get the boy to the hospital before he could lose too much blood.

Derek knew he would be alright. He had no doubts the Sheriff knew that too. But he could still smell the anger and terror wafting off of the man. And he understood that feeling.

“He’ll be alright,” Derek said, despite everything. The Sheriff flinched.

The man was trembling slightly, Derek noticed. Reaching out, he laid a gentle hand on the man’s shoulder and just left it there. Not squeezing too hard, not saying a word. The Sheriff took a shaky breath and rested his forehead on his son’s hand.

“I always worry about him, Hale. But I always thought he would be alright. He’s my son, you know? He’s not allowed to die.”

Derek swallowed hard, nodding. “I know.”

“Where were you?”

Derek swallowed hard. “I… haven’t been in town for a few years, sir. When Scott called me, I caught the first flight out.”

The Sheriff looked over his shoulder with a tight expression and Derek resisted the urge to flinch, forcing himself to hold the man’s gaze. After a long second, the Sheriff’s face broke again. “He’s only human, Hale. He shouldn’t be running with wolves.”

“Sir—”

“You came back to Beacon Hills for him.”

Derek stayed quiet. But slowly, he nodded and the man turned his gaze back to the boy.

“Will you stay?”

“As long as it takes for him to heal—”

“After that, Hale.”

Derek closed his mouth and let himself look back at Stiles again. He hated seeing the pale skin of the boy’s face. The way his chest rose and fell shallowly and the tube that went up his nose. He looked smaller than usual. He looked fragile.

Derek knew Stiles. He knew the boy was the complete opposite of fragile. But seeing him lying in the hospital bed, Derek was still terrified.

“Hale?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“If I could make you stay,” the man said. “I would.”

Derek looked at him in confusion. The Sheriff’s brown eyes never turned back to meet his own but Derek didn’t hear a single skip of his heart. The man’s words rang loud and true, but Derek didn’t know why. 

Because why would the Sheriff of Beacon Hills ever want him near his son?

Derek opened his mouth but before he could say a word, Stiles’s heartbeats changed. The boy stirred and Derek stepped back as his eyelashes fluttered. For a moment, he nearly fled the room.

When Stiles’s eyes opened, though, they didn’t immediately go to Derek. Instead, they focused on his father and Stiles looked started for a moment, before relaxing with a sigh.

Derek watched as Stiles’s hand turned over to take the Sheriff’s.

“Hey there, pops.”

The Sheriff laughed and brought his son’s hand up to his cheek. With a tight throat, Derek started to back even further away. But then Stiles’s gaze snapped to where he stood and the boy’s eyes widened.

Stiles tried to sit up and immediately made a noise of pain. Derek was moving before he could stop himself, one hand taking Stiles’s arm, the other gently pushing him down. Stiles breathed a sigh of relief as black lines began to trace up Derek’s arm and the Sheriff stepped back, glancing between the two of them.

But Derek didn’t even look over. His attention was on Stiles and the way the boy’s amber eyes searched his face, hand trembling a little as it reached up to touch his cheek.

“Derek, you’re here?”

“I’m here,” Derek said softly. Stiles’s throat bobbed as he swallowed.

“It’s been two years.”

“I know.”

“Why now?”

“Scott called me.”

Stiles’s face twisted and he yanked away like he’d been burned. Derek resisted the urge to flinch at that, but it still felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Stiles’s scent soured with anger. “So you came for Scott. That’s why you’re here.”

“I came for you,” Derek said. And he didn’t even think twice before the words spilled out.

Stiles blinked up at him.

The Sheriff suddenly cleared his throat and Derek jumped, remembering the man’s presence for the first time in the last five minutes. His face burned and he started to draw back, but then the man put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

“Stay for a little longer, son. I’m going to go see if I can find some coffee in this place.”

Derek looked at him, startled. But the Sheriff only smiled and then gave his son a look, reaching over and squeezing his arm too. “Behave, Stiles.”

“Behave? Me, behave?”

“Yes,” the man said. “You. And don’t move around too much or you’ll mess up your stitches.”

Stiles grumbled but relaxed further into his covers. Derek watched in silent shock as the man left the room and then looked back at Stiles, suddenly even more nervous than before.

The boy raised an eyebrow. “So, Sourwolf, when do you plan on leaving?”

“W-what?”

“Well,” Stiles said. “Clearly, I’m alive and well, so there’s nothing keeping you here anymore. You only came to make sure about that, didn’t you? So when are you leaving?”

Derek felt like he’d been punched. “Do you want me to leave?”

Stiles’s face tightened. For a long moment, the boy held his gaze, and then he turned away, facing the opposite wall. Derek swallowed hard, nodding, and moved a step back. 

“I can do that. I can go.”

Stiles didn’t move. Didn’t react. Derek clenched his jaw and forced himself to turn away. He never should’ve come back; he should’ve known better. Stiles was right, it had been two years and he’d only come back to make sure the boy was okay.

That is why he’d come back, right? 

“I’m sorry, Stiles.”

Stiles’s scent soured. He didn’t move until Derek’s hand was on the doorknob and then Derek heard him curse. “Don’t go.”

Derek froze. Slowly, he glanced back, but Stiles still hadn’t faced him.

“Don’t... go, Derek,” Stiles said softly. If Derek hadn’t had enhanced hearing, he might not have even heard it. “Please don’t leave me again.”

Derek’s heart cracked. He moved back forward and sank into the chair that the Sheriff had been in previously. Stiles turned to face him again and Derek reached out, threading his fingers through the boy’s own. He heard Stiles’s heart skip a beat. The boy eyed him dubiously.

“You’ll stay?”

“I’ll stay.”

“For good this time,” Stiles said. “Tell me you won’t leave again.”

Derek’s breaths caught in his throat and for a moment, he just nodded. But then to Stiles’s pleading gaze, Derek licked his lips and cleared his throat. “I won’t leave, Stiles. I won’t leave again.”

“You won’t.”

“No.”

“Promise.”

“I promise, Stiles.”

“Then I swear to god,” Stiles said, eyes flashing. “If you ever do, I’ll hunt your little werewolfy ass down and drag you back here myself.”

Derek laughed suddenly; because he believed it. Bringing Stiles’s hand up to his lips, he pressed a soft kiss against the back of it and Stiles’s heart skipped a beat again. The boy’s eyes fluttered as he took a heavy breath.

“I’m glad you’re here, Derek.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t earlier.”

“I know.”

“I should have been.”

Stiles nodded again, but then reached out, brushing his fingers over Derek’s cheek. Derek tried to hold back a small whine as he turned his face into it.

“Never again,” he said softly and if Stiles could’ve been able to hear it, he would’ve known Derek’s heart didn’t skip a beat. But maybe he could. Because once more, the boy nodded.

“I know.”

And all of that, Derek meant more than anything.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: "Where were you?" and the feels hit me like a truck. But I love a good 'Derek comes back for Stiles' fic! Of course, I'd love to hear what you all thought. You guys are amazing!
> 
> Of course, I'd love to hear what you guys thought! Come hang with me on Tumblr?
> 
> [the dumpster](https://when-she-writes-stuff.tumblr.com/)


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